Assessing Rainwater Harvesting as an Alternative Source of Non-Domestic Water Supply: Case Study at Jemo-1 Condominium
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Date
2017-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Water supply systems in Addis Ababa provide service to approximately 55% of the demand. Simple mechanisms that address urgent problems had to be used to supply citizens with water. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems have been in use since ancient times, and these days its use is increasing. Rainwater catchment systems are simple solutions that can be adopted in many parts of the city; many houses are already equipped with storage tanks and catching rainwater would require only a basic catchment system and make the most from the natural resources available.
Rainwater harvesting is one option worth analyzing for Jemo-1 condominium site. The total area of the study catchment is 111,030 m2 which is composed of 333 blocks (the total area of 1 block is 290 m2) and 50 communal (the total area of 1 communal is 266 m2). From this 107,442 m3 of water will be collected in a year but this will satisfy only 18.45 % of the total non-domestic water demand.
In this study, household scale rainwater catchment systems were analyzed, where water can be channeled through pipes installed on each building roofs. The pipes transport water to aboveground reservoirs. Precipitation data for Jemo-1 was used to determine the amount of water that can be collected. In the end, all aspects were analyzed to determine whether this could be a solution worth implementing in Jemo-1 to alleviate water scarcity problems as well as the possible positive and negative impacts it would have on the economy, society and the environment. It has also been tried to design the RWH components based on design criteria. Based on the design and analyses performed, it becomes clear that rainwater harvesting is not the only solution that will solve all water scarcity issues in Jemo-1. Storage tanks need to be much larger, precipitation has to be more abundant, roofs need to have a bigger area and tanks need to be cheaper for it to be the major source of water supply in the area.
Key Words: Rainwater Harvesting, Jemo-1, Catchment, Non-Domestic Demand, Daily Per Capita Demand, Observatory Station
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Keywords
Rainwater Harvesting, Jemo-1, Catchment, Non-Domestic Deman, Daily Per Capita Demand, Observatory Station